24
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922)
Estimate:
€5,000 - €7,000
Sold
€6,400
Live Auction
Irish & International Art
Size
17.50 by 10.50in. (44.5 by 26.7cm)
Description
Title: ILLUSTRATION, c. 1886/1887
Note: Inscribed on reverse with the instructions to a printer to reduce image to 7.5 x 4.75 inches, and with the artist’s name and address, 58 Eardley Crescent, Earls Court (Yeats’ address in 1886-1887), crossed out and replaced below with 3 Blenheim Road, Bedford Park, Chiswick (his address from mid-1887). Struggling to support his large family on the unreliable income of a portrait painter, Yeats left Dublin for London in late 1886 to attempt a living doing black and white illustration work1. From his initial residence in Eardley Crescent he submitted woodcuts and drawings to such publishing firms as Atalanta, Cassell’s, Harper’s and the Tract Society. However, an unprofessional approach and a distinct lack of marketing skills resulted in many such works not selling and consequently remaining with the family. Contrary to his son Jack’s illustrative work, JBY’s work in this field has been largely undocumented. The present work represents a rare – possibly unique – example of this part of John Butler Yeats' oeuvre.This work is possibly inspired by the W.B. Yeats poem The Stolen Child, written in 1886.1 William Murphy, Prodigal Father: The Life of John Butler Yeats (1839-1922), Cornell University Press, Ithica & London, 1978, p. 159.
Note: Inscribed on reverse with the instructions to a printer to reduce image to 7.5 x 4.75 inches, and with the artist’s name and address, 58 Eardley Crescent, Earls Court (Yeats’ address in 1886-1887), crossed out and replaced below with 3 Blenheim Road, Bedford Park, Chiswick (his address from mid-1887). Struggling to support his large family on the unreliable income of a portrait painter, Yeats left Dublin for London in late 1886 to attempt a living doing black and white illustration work1. From his initial residence in Eardley Crescent he submitted woodcuts and drawings to such publishing firms as Atalanta, Cassell’s, Harper’s and the Tract Society. However, an unprofessional approach and a distinct lack of marketing skills resulted in many such works not selling and consequently remaining with the family. Contrary to his son Jack’s illustrative work, JBY’s work in this field has been largely undocumented. The present work represents a rare – possibly unique – example of this part of John Butler Yeats' oeuvre.This work is possibly inspired by the W.B. Yeats poem The Stolen Child, written in 1886.1 William Murphy, Prodigal Father: The Life of John Butler Yeats (1839-1922), Cornell University Press, Ithica & London, 1978, p. 159.
Medium
watercolour heightened with white
Signature
signed with initials lower right; inscribed on reverse
Provenance
Purchased from the artist by a friend of the Yeats family;by whom given in 1936 to Mrs Buckley, Sandymount, Dublin;thence to her daughter Enid;by whom given in 1994 to the previous owner ;Whyte's, 29 April 2003, lot 91;Private collection
